MUNICH – The German government’s invitation to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to the Munich Security Conference signifies the indifference it has to the plight and suffering of the Ethiopian people under the ruthless regime in Addis, a human rights group said on Sunday.
The conference was hosted by Dirk Niebel, German Minister for Development. The Conference lasted from February 4 to 6 in the Bavarian city of Munich, where a huge anti-Meles demonstration was held on February 5.
The German-based Ethiopian Human Rights Committee accused the Meles government of committing various crimes, including torture, extrajudicial executions, spreading fear and terror among the people, and generally ruling by sheer brutality and ruthlessness.
“Meles Zenawi has intentionally used “hunger” to punish and weaken the Ethiopian public into total obedience,” the committee said in its statement.
And yet to invite the criminal to a conference shows the double standard of the German and other Europan countries, it added.
Although Meles Zenawi has been in power since 1991, and has even killed unarmed protesters following his defeat at the 2005 polls, and launched persistent attacks that led to the disintegration of once popular opposition parties, and yet such brutality is viewed by EU officials as the strength of Meles.
The EU presidency stressed the importance of Meles as a regional leader… and even MFA Africa Advisor Muelmenstaedt went an extra mile, and bluntly said: “Meles is a guy you can do business with.”
But the human rights group warns such approch is fraught with danger and uncertainty.
“We would like to remind German and other EU member nations to the popular uprisings that are rocking the foundations of dictatorial regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and others. It is time that they learn a lesson and reconsider their policies that have emboldened dictatorial regimes like the one in Ethiopia,” the group concluded.
Ethiopian Human Rights Committee in Germany ([email protected])
